TSA secure flight means fewer mistakes on terror watch list

ST. LOUIS - Imagine your family has been preparing for a Disney vacation for months. But when you get to the airport, your six-year-old son is suddenly flagged as a match to a government database – code for terrorist watch list! That is what happened to Meteorologist Chris Higgins 12-years ago. His six-year-old son was flagged at check-in. He was eventually allowed to board, but not without a few intense moments of anxiety at the ticket counter.

Much has changed since then with TSA implementing better systems to prevent names from being erroneously matched to the terrorist watch list. The most important change is TSA Secure Flight which is the direct result of findings from the 9-11 Commission report that takes the responsibility for matching names from the airlines and places it with TSA. Now mismatched names are very rare thanks in large part to Secure Flight.

But TSA Secure Flight will not make security lines go faster. To avoid the longest lines, you need to sign-up for TSA Pre-check. This allows you to enter information into the TSA database and after a background check, you can be approved for expedited security screening. So those, belts, shoes and light outer garments can stay where they belong.